


Scenes From A Partnership

by sanctuary_for_all



Series: (More) Scenes From A Partnership [1]
Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: F/M, Falling In Love, First Kiss, First Time, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Missing Scene, Mutual Pining, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-18
Updated: 2016-04-17
Packaged: 2018-05-27 13:05:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 13,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6285868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanctuary_for_all/pseuds/sanctuary_for_all
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the end, it always comes down to the two of them.</p><p>(Covers the time between the end of the case and the last few scenes of the movie, so mega spoilers.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Covers the time between Judy and Nick solving the case and Nick graduating from police training.

For the first time in her life, Judy wanted to hide.

She and Nick had been parked on a bench in some back hallway of HQ, waiting for the press conference to be set up. She was exhausted, in pain, and was about two minutes away from having to explain to reporters just how badly she'd screwed all this up before she and Nick had swooped back in to fix it. She didn't have any place to sleep in the city, any clothes to change into, and the worst part of all of it was that she was going to have to let go of Nick at some point.

But not yet. Oh please, not yet.

"You're going to come up with me this time, right?" she asked him, fingers wrapped around his so tightly she half wondered if the muscles had locked up. If it had been anyone else, it would have been embarrassing. "You're just as much of a hero as I am. More, really, because I'm part of the reason things got so bad here in the first place." Guilt surged back, and she closed her eyes. "For all I know, they all hate me now. they deserve to."

"They don't hate you,” Nick reassured her, prying his fingers out of hers. She was upset for a second (not hurt, that would be such a bad idea), but then he wrapped his newly freed arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer. His tail did the same, though she wasn’t sure how aware of that he was. "I have it on good authority that it's hard to stay mad at you for too long. The chief, however, will probably have a heart attack if some civilian with questionable legal history gets up there and pretends to be a ZPD detective.” His voice had gone artificially light on that last bit, like he was spinning one of his cons. “You'll feel even guiltier, the next chief will make you go back to being a meter maid, I’ll get whacked for ruining the career of Mr. Big’s daughter’s favorite person... utter madness all around."

Judy looked up at him, and he smiled down at her like all was right in the world. But now that she knew what to look for, she could see the self-doubt in his eyes. It should have made her feel even guiltier – it was partially her fault, no matter that he’d forgiven her for it – but there was only a little of that. Mostly, it steadied her in a way hardly anything else could have.

She’d always been more comfortable when she had something to fight for. Now that it was some _one_ , all that meant was she had that much more reason to fight.

Judy raised her eyebrow at him. “Don’t even _think_ about sneaking your way out of this one, Nick.” She kept her voice just as light as he had, in case it helped to let him pretend she couldn’t see through him. “We’re partners, and that means doing paperwork together and answering annoying questions just as much as it does chasing after bad guys. And we won’t give Chief Bogo a choice. Either we both go up, or neither of us do.” She wrinkled her nose. “And I really don’t think he wants to be the one to explain what happened.”

Nick didn’t say anything for a moment, gaze sliding away from hers as if he didn’t want her to see his eyes. Then he cleared his throat, and they both pretended they couldn’t hear the emotion in it. “You’re the boss, Carrots.” After another beat, he flashed her his old cocky smirk. “Still can’t get me on the paperwork, though.”

Judy thought about Nick’s ZPD application, the one she’d kept in her wallet every day since he’d given it back to her. If she and Nick could fix the city, she was sure they could fix that, too. “We’ll see about that.”


	2. Chapter 2

If Nick had any sense, he would have dropped her off at a hotel somewhere and hope they could have talked the chief into footing the bill. But, as the last few weeks had made pretty clear, sense and Nick Wilde were no longer keeping company.

"Home sweet home," he announced, keeping one arm around Judy as he used the other to push his door open. He flicked the light on, determined not to be embarrassed. "It's not pretty, but at least it's better than sleeping in that truck of yours."

Judy's gaze swept the ramshackle little apartment, which was unfortunately even messier than usual because he'd been too miserable to bother cleaning up. It wasn't like there'd been anyone to clean up for, anyway. "My mother would be horrified," she said after a moment, sounding long-suffering and almost fond. "But it's actually not much worse than the place I had."

"And I bet you actually paid rent for yours, too." Nick made a tsking noise as he helped her over to the couch, setting her down before pulling her leg up to check the bandages. Unlike _some_ rabbits whose name he wouldn't mention, he'd been paying attention to the EMT's instructions. "Dumb bunny."

Judy raised an eyebrow. "Oh, and I bet they're letting you live here just so they can have your charming presence around," she said with mock sweetness.

"While my presence _is_ a gift, this is more a case of someone saying thank you after I did them a favor." Seeing that there hadn't been any bleed-through, he met her eyes with a smirk. "A completely legal favor, of course."

"Oh, of course." Still, that was a smile on her face, which he counted as a win. "Still, thank you for this. The chief said he would dig a cot out of the closet for me, but your couch is so much better."

"Don't be stupid," he said easily. "I'm on the couch. You're taking the bed." Judy opened her mouth, drawing breath to argue, and he deftly batted the conversation onto another topic. "So what did the chief say about your job? I'd have been lurking, but Clawhauser's... enthusiasm is hard to shake."

"You'll probably get more of that. He thinks you're the 'coolest ever,'" she said fondly. "Direct quote."

"It's the sunglasses." Nick rested his paw on Judy's lower leg, knowing he should push it back down to the floor and move on with the rest of the evening. And he would. Just ... not quite yet. "But that still didn't answer my question about your job."

She hesitated at that, but the slightly awed expression on her face told him there was nothing he needed to worry about. "He said he'd been holding it for me. He expects me back at work on Monday." Then her gaze sharpened. "And if he thinks I can be back at work that fast, I am just fine taking your couch."

"It's not that he thinks you'll be healed by then. He just knows he won't be able to keep you away longer than that." He made himself set her leg down, then, standing up and heading over to the cubby where he kept his stash of blankets. "Which means that the few days you do take it easy should be done properly. So you are going to take the bed, I'm going to take the couch, and in the morning we'll go back to your—" He froze, jerked to a halt at the thought of meeting her parents. No, that would _definitely_ be a bad idea right now. " _You'll_ go back to your parents place and get your things, and I'll get some leads on finding you a new apartment."

Nick ignored the pang in his chest the thought gave him, knowing that it was a good idea. Even if he risked getting used to having her in his life, he shouldn't get used to having her here in his den. It'd make it feel too much like home.

When he came back, she was scowling at him. "You know, Carrots, you're pretty adorable when you're frustrated. You should really watch out for that."

"It's  just—" She reached out, laying a hand on his arm. Her ears curved back, a sure sign she was getting emotional. "You need to take care of yourself, too, Nick. You've had just as tough a day as I had."

His chest warmed. "You know, I'm pretty sure you're the only person in Zootopia who worries that I won't take care of myself."

She smiled at him. "That's because no one in Zootopia knows you like I do."


	3. Chapter 3

Judy’s racing heart finally threw her free of the nightmare, still able to see the fireball the train car had become even as her eyes flew open. She stared up at the darkened ceiling of Nick’s bedroom, forcing her breathing to slow down and reminding herself that it _hadn’t_ happened like that. Nick was fine. He was here, just—

—quietly opening the bedroom door, a concerned expression on his face. “Carrots? You okay?”

The sight of him made her chest unknot. A fox’s hearing, she remembered, was almost as good as a rabbit’s. “Yeah.” She rubbed her paws over her eyes, trying to pretend she wasn’t staring at him. “Just a nightmare.”

“Ah.” He flinched a little at that, ears laying back and paw flexing on the knob. He stepped back, starting to close the door. “I’ll just—“

“No!” She practically hopped out of the bed reaching for him. “Can I just… be in the living room with you for a little while? You won’t have to stay awake to entertain me or anything.”

But he _did_ look awake, far too much so for how late it had to be. And he wouldn’t have heard her wake if he’d been asleep – she hadn’t screamed or anything, at least not out loud. Which, she realized suddenly, meant he was probably having as much trouble sleeping as she was.

She had no explanation, however, for the fact that he was looking at her like he couldn’t quite believe what he was hearing. “Are you sure?” he asked after a moment. “I mean, I’m fine with it, but I’m just not sure that would actually _help_.”

Judy climbed out of the bed, the hem of one of Nick’s old t-shirts brushing her ankles. “Well, if I have another nightmare that I got you killed in the exploding train car, all I’ll have to do is open my eyes and there you’ll be.”

Surprise flashed in his eyes. “ _That's_ what you were—“ He stopped, clearing his throat as he looked away briefly. “Sure, no problem.” He stepped back again, but this time he swept a paw out and held the door open wider. “After you.”

Judy didn’t move for a moment, watching his face. “What were you having nightmares about?” she asked quietly, afraid she already knew the answer.

Nick hesitated, like he wanted to deflect, then let out a breath. “There are a lot of ways today could have gone bad, Carrots. We almost didn’t have time to switch the ammo.”

Heart breaking for him, Judy darted forward and wrapped her arms around Nick’s middle. “It would have been the Night Howlers, not you,” she whispered fiercely, almost surprised at how certain she’d felt. The rabbit who’d flinched from Nick had been an idiot. “Mr. Otterton would have hurt his wife without even blinking. It’s a horrible plant.”

Nick stayed frozen for a second, then the tension left him in a rush. His arms settled around her, and he gave her a quick, fierce squeeze. “So,” he said finally, voice rough. “I’m thinking there’s a terrible movie on TV somewhere with our name on it.”

000

The movie, as it turned out, was “Space Pigs From the Planet Porcine.” Judy had never seen it, but Nick had apparently seen it often enough to provide a running commentary on the disaster.

“Look at the way he freezes. It’s clear the poor guy’s actually forgotten his lines,” Nick murmured at one point. “The dialogue’s so bad he’s just trying to repress the memory.”

Judy smiled a little, her head against Nick’s shoulder. More of her attention was on the sound of Nick’s voice and the sound of his heartbeat than what was happening onscreen, but she didn’t have to tell him that. “What? This is genius,” she teased, feeling herself get sleepy again. “A cinematic masterpiece.”

Nick huffed out a laugh. “Be careful, Carrots. You get talking like that, you might find yourself stuck in a movie marathon.”

She turned her head a little, breathing him in. “Bring it.”


	4. Chapter 4

Even as Nick slowly surfaced from unconsciousness, he was annoyed about it. He'd _enjoyed_ being asleep, damn it, and that didn't happen all too often. He snuggled back down under the warm softness, fully prepared to protest his brain's terrible decision to wake—

A sleepy sound from somewhere in the vicinity of his chest cut off the rest of the thought.

Nick snapped to full consciousness in a rush as he recognized the sound, his brain identifying the warm softness sprawled over him as an armful of rabbit. They'd fallen asleep leaning against each other on the couch, but somehow in the middle of the night they'd wiggled around to the point where her head was tucked in against his neck deep enough that her ears were bent back, one of her feet was shoved underneath his leg, and their arms were wrapped around each other. Her scent was everywhere, mingling with his with every breath he took, and he felt his heartbeat start speeding up to match hers.

People were always waking each other with kisses in movies. He suddenly, very badly, wanted to try it out.

Sense kicked in a second later - see, there it was – and Nick tried to slide out from under Judy as quickly and carefully as he possibly could. Naturally, it didn't work all that well, and it ended with him crashing onto the carpet just as Judy lifted her head. "Nick?" She looked around, clearly searching for him, then peered down at him over the edge of the couch. "I don't think I've ever seen someone actually fall out of bed before."

"What can I say?" he tossed back, firmly ignoring his body's protests that he'd been having a lot more fun snuggling. "I'm talented." He stood, mentally grabbing for the first distraction he could think of. "I should probably warn you – your breakfast options are cereal, cereal or cereal. No milk."

She stretched, giving him an amused look. "I guess I choose cereal, then." Hopping off the couch in a single graceful movement, she headed back into his bedroom. Nick assumed she was going to change – he yanked his mind back from dwelling on that thought _at all_ \- but she was back a moment later with a piece of paper and an ever so slightly nervous expression on her face. "While I'm driving back to my parents, though, I think you should take care of this rather than trying to find me a place."

Nick only realized what it was when she held it out to him, and his throat tightened as he took the paper and carefully unfolded it. His application was a little worse for wear, enough creases in it to suggest that it had been carried around folded for awhile, and his chest squeezed as he looked up at her. "How long have you been holding onto this?"

"Since you gave it to me." She looked solemn for a moment, then she put on a deliberately cocky expression. "Haven't scared you off, have I?"

There were so many ways this could go wrong. But he was powerless to do anything but grin at her. "Not a chance."

000

He ended up recopying the application - not because he planned on keeping the original for sentimental reasons, of course not - and had just planned on turning it in to Clawhauser. Instead of taking it, however, the cheetah had ushered him upstairs. "The captain said he wanted to see you directly," he said, practically bouncing with excitement.

Nick froze for a second. "He knew I was going to be here?"

Clawhauser winked dramatically. "I guess you're just going to have to see, aren't you?"

By the time Nick made it up to Bogo's office, he'd decided to play it loose but not quite disrespectful. "I take it you expected to see me, Boss?"

"Not your boss yet, Wilde." Still, there was a glint of something that might have been amusement as the Chief held out a hoof. "Let me see it."

Nick gave him the application, focusing all of his efforts on denying the fact that a slow bubble of panic was rising in his chest. This wasn't a flashback, he reminded himself. The worst they'd do is kick him out.

After what seemed like a small eternity, Bogo looked back up at him. "The thing is," he said wryly, "she'd still get you involved whether you had a badge or not. And you wouldn't see anything wrong with that."

Nick made himself shrug. "Kind of saved the day, Sir."

The corner of the Chief's mouth ghosted upward. "That it did." Then it was gone, the tough guy expression firmly back in place as he leaned forward across the desk. "Your hero status isn't going to give you a free ride, though. You'll have to survive the academy just like Hopps did."

Nick held the Chief's eyes, wanting him to see him how serious he was. "I know."

The Chief settled back in his seat with a satisfied expression. "Personally, I hope you manage it. You're the only partner I can think of who has a chance of keeping up with Hopps."

Nick smirked, a cover for the hope that was rising up to replace the panic. "I'll take that as a compliment."

Bogo smirked back. "It was meant as one." Then his eyes narrowed. "Never tell her I said that."


	5. Chapter 5

Judy's open suitcase was on the bed at her parents' place, rapidly filling as she hurried trying to remember everything she'd wished she'd brought with her last time. Clothes, fur products, maybe that old phone, because as far as she could tell Nick somehow didn't even _have_ one....

"Judy! Could you slow down for a second and talk to me?"

Dropping the shirt she was holding into the suitcase, Judy turned to find her mother standing in the doorway. The older rabbit looked more worried than she had when she'd sent her daughter to Zootopia the first time, and Judy felt a moment of guilt as she crossed the room and laid her paws on her mother's arms. "I told you, everything's okay. I have my job back, my leg's healing just fine, and I'll be back out to celebrate Bounty Day with everyone. I'm just in a hurry because I have a lot to do in the city before Monday."

Like convince Nick to let her stay, and that she hadn't meant to scare him when she'd apparently crawled on top of him in the middle of the night. She'd slept in a pile of her siblings for years before she'd turned 18 and gotten her own space, and if she had to she could use that as an argument (without mentioning that she'd never really liked the bunny pile, but being wrapped up in Nick had been wonderful....)

Her mom, unfortunately, didn't look mollified. "I know you have your job back, but should you really be rushing back into it so fast? Do you even have a place to live in the city yet? I don't want you to have to stay in some terrible Zootopia motel when you could just as easily make those calls from—"

"I'm staying with a friend," Judy interrupted, hoping to quell at least that argument.

Her mom's brow furrowed. "Who? You didn't mention knowing anyone."

Judy's eyes narrowed. She'd edited the story for her parents, but Nick's name had definitely come up. "Nick? The fox who helped me stop Bellwether and save the city?" Her mom's eyes widened before she tried to school her expression back into place, and Judy made an exasperated sound and stepped back. "Mom, don't you dare turn into Dad on me about this. You _know_ foxes are fine – you work with Gideon!"

Her mom still looked torn. "Well, yes, but—"

Whatever else she'd been about to say was interrupted by the sound of Judy's phone, which showed a number Judy didn't recognize. Answering it – for all she knew, Fru Fru Big had suddenly gotten a hold of her number – Judy was thrilled to see Nick's face fill the screen. "Nick! You got a phone!" She grinned at him, forgetting anyone else was in the room. "Next you'll be buying throw pillows."

"Bite your tongue, Carrots. I know perfectly well you're just trying to con me into coasters." He sounded so warm and _happy_ that it made her toes want to curl. "Still planning on coming back on the 8 o'clock train?"

"You know it, but don't you dare think I'm going to wait that long to find out what happened with Bogo."

"Bogo?" He made his expression exaggeratedly confused. "Was I supposed to talk to Bogo today?"

"Nick...."

The grin he'd been holding back finally burst. "He said if I can survive police academy, you've got yourself a partner."

"Yes!" She pumped her fist in the air, doing an impromptu happy dance. When she caught him laughing silently at her, she gave him a teasingly stem look. "Oh, don't think you're getting out of this. I'm expecting a happy dance out of you when I get home."

He gave her an amused look. "I don't dance."

She cocked an eyebrow at him. "All that means is you haven't had the right opportunity to share your talent with the world yet."

Nick scoffed. "Oh, there is _no_ chance the world is seeing me dance."

"Okay, then, I'll admit it. I don't care about the world." She grinned. "As long as I'm the exception."

His expression went soft, making her chest go all warm and melty. "Carrots, you're my exception to pretty much everything."

She ended the call and immediately saved Nick's number. When she lifted her head, she was surprised to see her mother still standing there. Judy couldn't read the look on her face, but it was enough that her shoulders tightened defensively. "I told you, we're friends."

 _This_ look Judy recognized, from all those times as a child when she'd tried to explain that she'd had _no choice_ but to get into various fights. "You never called your apartment home," her mom said. "We talked every night when you were out there the first time, and I never once heard you use that word to describe anyplace but here."

Judy was confused for a second, not sure what her mom was talking about, then froze as memory filtered in. Nick hadn't noticed, had he? He hadn't said anything. Maybe he'd thought she meant Zootopia....

Watching all of this play across Judy's face, her mother sighed. "Oh, honey. You don't know how to do things easy, do you?" She held out her paw. "Let me see it. Clearly, I need to write this boy's number on the calendar."

Judy hesitated, but she could tell there was no way she was getting out of this one. "Don't bother him too much, okay?" She loved her parents, but they were perfectly capable of scaring someone off.

Her mother gave Judy a long-suffering look. "I'll try to restrain myself."


	6. Chapter 6

Judy did end up getting him to dance, but that didn’t exactly come as a surprise to Nick. She was capable of getting him to do a lot of things no one else had a chance at.

“You know, you’re supposed to stop liking Catty Perry once you’ve made it past puberty,” he said, completely at odds with the little shimmy he was doing to “Roar.” “I’m pretty sure there’s a rule about it somewhere.”

“Don’t think I don’t see those hips of yours moving, Wilde,” Judy shot back, holding up a paw without interrupting her own dance.

Nick took it, twirling her around like she wanted before dipping her. “What can I say? I’m easily suggestible.”

She grinned up at him, letting him take her weight. She was smaller than he was, yes, but there was solid muscle underneath that fur. “I knew you could dance.”

He grinned back at her, any potentially inappropriate thoughts safely behind a door he had shut and locked that morning. Other thoughts, however, weren’t so easy to regulate, and even when he put her back on her feet again they hit him in a rush.

Tonight had been one of the best nights of his life, objectively speaking, and he was pretty sure last night held the number two position. He had a brief, dizzying thought that future nights might get even _better_ than this, that having Judy this close had somehow kicked his life into a whole new scale of existence.

Of course, she wasn’t going to be this close forever. Not even for very long – he had to report to the police academy on Monday, and by the time he made it back out she’d have definitely found a place of her own. He’d see her at work every day, of course – he was determined to take whatever the academy threw at him and kick its ass – but it wouldn’t be like _this_ ….

“Nick?” The sound of Judy’s voice scattered his train of thought. “You still here?”

He shook his head a little, dragging his attention back into the moment. “Yeah, just thinking too hard.”

Instead of going for the obvious joke, she looked suddenly determined. “If you’re worried about the police academy, don’t be.” She grabbed his paws. “You’ll be the cleverest fox they’ve ever seen, and everyone else will be left in the dust after the first week.”

The sudden onslaught of faith in him made Nick’s throat close. “I have to, or you’ll end up dragging me out on cases anyway.”

“You’d better believe it.” Then something in her face shifted, making it so Nick could no longer read her expression. “I know you won’t have a lot of free time, but if you want you can call me whenever you have a moment. And I don’t know what my shifts are going to look like, but if you want to come back for the weekends I’ll make sure I’m out of your fur. I can….”

“No, it’s fine,” Nick said hurriedly, paws tightening on hers as if he could picture her slipping away then and there. The words – he couldn’t call them unplanned, exactly, but he’d been pretty sure he’d never get around to saying them out loud – tumbled out of him in a rush. “Actually, I was kind of hoping you could stay here while I was gone. You know, defend the den from anyone who might be sniffing around looking to steal it out from under our noses.”

He winced as the “our” slipped out – talk about a Furrdian slip – but Judy’s whole expression had lightened. “Really? You’d trust a little bunny to protect your territory?”

Apparently, she hadn’t noticed the slip. Which was a good thing, really – much safer than any of the other options. “If she’s as scary as you are, then absolutely.”

“Lucky for you I realize how much of a compliment that is.” Judy smiled, looking pleased with the universe as a whole. When it wasn’t making his life harder, Nick had to admit it was a _really_ good look for her. “Don’t worry – your den is safe with me.”


	7. Chapter 7

She wanted to talk to Nick.

No, Judy corrected herself as she walked out of Mr. Otterton's hospital room. She _needed_ to talk to Nick, was practically bursting with the urge to tell Nick how well the cure was going, to paint such a detailed word picture of the Otterton's reunion that he'd be able to see it for himself. She needed to listen to him just as badly, hear all about how his first few days of police academy had gone and how his new classmates were treating him

On some level, she just needed to hear his voice. It was amazing how empty the apartment felt at night without Nick's voice and presence filling it, how many times she'd turned her head to tell him something only to remember all over again that he wasn't there.

But she couldn't call him. She forcibly lifted her paw away from her phone, trying to pretend her ears weren't drooping as she reminded herself of that fact. What Nick needed was to focus his energy on school, finding his own way to conquer all the physical and academic challenges they were going to throw at him, and he didn't deserve to have her distracting him just because she missed him.

Even though she missed him really, _really_ badly.

Shaking her head, Judy dragged her thoughts to the next patient she had to visit. Chief Bogo had her checking in with all of the affected predators, along with other projects that were helping to knit the city back together. The Judy of a year ago would have balked at PR work, but right now she was grateful for the extra opportunities to heal some of the damage she'd helped cause....

"Officer Hopps?"

Startled out of her thoughts by the unfamiliar male voice, Judy turned around to see a rabbit in nurse's scrubs. He was maybe a few years older than she was, but his smile was almost shy as he held out a paw. "My name is Tim. Tim Cottonton. I'm sorry for bothering you while you're working, but I've wanted to meet you ever since you were first hired by the ZPD. You're a hero to a lot of rabbits."

She brushed off the compliment as she shook his paw. "Just following a dream, like I'm sure you were when you went into nursing."

He shrugged. "I just wanted to be able to help." When she nodded, he cleared his throat. "I know this is pretty forward, but if you're not busy this Saturday—"

Judy tensed, sure she knew where this was going. There was no reason for the strange sense of dread coiling in her stomach - he was polite, cute, and clearly understood what it meant to be dedicated to your career. Her parents would be thrilled if she brought someone like Tim home, and if she'd met him a year ago she might have been just as thrilled.

But he wasn't Nick.

Realization crashed down like a metaphorical ton of bricks, and Judy had a sudden, desperate need to be anywhere but where she was. "I am busy." The words burst out of her, an urgent attempt to stop him from finishing the question. When his eyes widened, she scrambled for something more normal-sounding. "Work, you know how it is."

"Yeah." He nodded, a little more hesitant. She was sure he could hear how fast her heart was suddenly pounding. "Well, is there another time—"

She shook her head, cutting him off. "I work pretty much all the time, and since I'm new it's impossible to tell what my schedule will be." Everything she'd just said was technically true – she'd been piling on every hour Bogo would let her in an attempt to make sure her weekends would be free for Nick, and as a result her schedule _was_ a mess. Even if it wasn't, it was so much easier to say than "I just realized I have romantic feelings for my best friend and future work partner that he probably doesn't return, and honestly you really don't want to get in the middle of that."

From the way Tim's mouth tightened, though, he clearly heard enough of that anyway. "Okay. Sorry to bother you."

Judy watched him walk away, trying hard to quell the panic still making her heart race, then turned around and hurried in the opposite direction. She could figure this out. People had to have survived falling for their best friends before, right? Surely there was some sort of guidebook she could find somewhere.

She was pulling out her phone to start researching that when it rang, Nick's name flashing across the screen. She was frozen for a moment, afraid she'd let something slip, but even her panic paled against the opportunity to talk to Nick. She accepted the call, Nick's face filling the screen. "Sorry to bug you in the middle of the day, but it's the first time I've had a few torture free minutes," he said. "You have time to talk?"

Judy couldn't stop herself from smiling, grateful he couldn't hear how fast her heart was still beating over the phone. "For you, always."


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [kingmaker](http://archiveofourown.org/users/kingmaker/pseuds/kingmaker) pointed out to me that "homicide" has its roots in the Latin word for human, so in a world populated by animals the word that would have evolved in its place would be "zooicide." Though I never would have ferreted that out on my own (hah) I was far too delighted by the detail not to change the fic accordingly.

The police academy was trying to kill him.

Not the academic aspects – he didn't love memorizing rules, but the problem-solving challenges were almost fun. The physical aspects, unfortunately, were a different story. Years of lucrative cons were little help when it came to slogging through a sandstorm, throwing yourself up The Snowcastle of Death, or attempting to fight an opponent that was at least four or five times bigger than you were (Nick's usual technique for surviving fights – not being anywhere near the punching – wasn't considered to be an acceptable option). He had a sneaking suspicion that one or two of his classmates were out to kill him on a more personal level, and had a special talent for waiting to body slam him whenever the drill sergeant's back was turned.

With all that stacked against him, the old Nicholas P. Wilde would have been out the door like a shot. The part of him that wanted to prove everyone else wrong was still too fragile to stand up to too much physical abuse, and all of his old instincts were screaming at him to cut his losses and solve the problem the simplest way he knew how.

But he was still here.

He stayed up late most nights, usually with a textbook and an ice pack he managed to charm out of the kitchen staff. Today, though, Frank had been too distracted to go after him, which meant he could get in some push ups while he studied. As always, he never bothered with a light.

Which was why it was something of a surprise when a flashlight flicked on above his head. "You're up late."

"Yes, I am." Nick did another rep, not wanting to push her too far, then shifted so he was in a sitting position. "But since I haven't left the confines of my bed, there's no rule against it."

The drill sergeant gave him a wry look. "And you're clearly a stickler for rules."

He saluted. "Just doing my duty, sergeant."

"Just like you were when you put itching powder in Frank's shorts?"

Nick kept his expression blank. Everywhere, it turned out, had a black market. "There was itching powder in Frank's shorts?"

She didn't say anything for a moment, and Nick tensed as he waited for some accusation about what he thought he was doing here. Why a sly fox dared presume he could protect and defend.

He wasn't at all prepared for what she actually asked. “What are you saying under your breath when you’re running the challenges? Because from where I’m standing, it looks a lot like you’re repeating ‘carrots’ over and over again.”

Nick froze. He’d known exactly what he was doing, but the last thing he’d wanted was for anyone else to know. “Carrots?” he managed finally, sounding slightly strangled. “Why would I be saying carrots?”

She didn’t say anything to that, but the corners of her mouth curved upward a little. “I saw you on the news with Hopps,” she said instead. “Now that is one rabbit that doesn’t have an ounce of quit in her.”

Nick cleared his throat. “That’s one way of putting it.”

The drill sergeant made an amused sound. “If the two of you are ever following a case in Sahara Square, you might want to show her that trick with the mirror. All my years here, smartest thing I’ve ever seen someone do.”

Nick’s mouth fell open at the unexpected compliment. “Really?”

“Really.” Her voice went utterly serious as she clicked the flashlight off. “If I stop them, it will only end up making your life harder. But you’ve got free reign to use anything short of zooicide to stop them yourself.”

It was good Nick didn’t have to ask what she meant, because the shock made it hard to speak at all. “No zooicide,” he managed finally. “Got it.”

“Good.” She turned to go, stopping a little ways away. When she turned back to look at him, her voice was softer. “When I was going through the academy, I fell asleep looking at a picture of my wife every night. Only thing that kept me going.”

Then she disappeared into the darkness, leaving Nick with a hell of a lot to think about.


	9. Chapter 9

Surprisingly, it turned out to be easier to deal with her realization about her feelings for Nick than she'd thought it would be. Mostly because she refused to think about it, shoving it all in a vault in the back of her brain and locking the door. She opened it only long enough to similarly bury things like the tingle she sometimes got when he smiled at her, or any particularly intense attention to his eyes or the line of his arms and shoulders.

Nothing was going to get in the way of their friendship. Even her.

It helped to spend some of her weeknights with Clawhauser, letting him take her to some of his favorite restaurants and bars. That night they were trying someplace new, tucked into a back booth with fruity, improbably colored drinks that tasted like candy. Clawhauser had tucked both umbrellas behind his ears, a big smile on his face, and was in the middle of telling her about this fan-written story he’d found online where Gazelle develops superpowers.

He was interrupted, however, by an ugly-sounding shout from the other side of the bar. “Hey, I didn’t know this was the kind of place than let _foxes_ in. Sneaky bastards’ll probably steal our wallets and leave without paying their tab.”

Judy’s head whipped up at the sight of a huge brown bear forcing himself out of another booth, the pair of foxes already standing up and heading for the door. From their outfits they looked like they’d been out on a date, and when they turned Judy could see matching looks of bitter resignation on their faces. Things like this clearly happened to them _all the time_.

Looking at them, all Judy could see was Nick’s face in that skycar as he’d told her about that awful scout troop. All of the things that had clearly happened to them since then, enough that he hadn’t even bothered to mention them. _Never let them see that they get to you._

“Enough.” Before she could think about what she was doing, Judy hopped out of the booth and in the path of the bruiser. “Apologize to them. _Now_.”

The bear looked incredulous, then without another word backhanded Judy across the bar. She slid into the side of a booth, hard enough that the foxes came running over. Clawhauser was moving to help, too, but he naturally took a little longer. “It’s okay,” one of the foxes whispered, helping her up. “We’re used to this.”

“You shouldn’t have to be,” Judy said, the words closer to a growl than she should have been capable of. The bear had turned around and was laughing with his friends, the elk behind the bar looking like he was trying to decide whether to intervene.

Hopping up on the nearest table, she grabbed an empty beer bottle and tossed it up in the air. Then, remembering the timing she’d impressed her siblings with when they’d been picking carrots, she leapt up and kicked the bottom of the bottle with her foot as hard as she could. It sailed straight for the back of the bear’s head, smashing in an impressive cloud of glass. There were three seconds when the room when absolutely silent, and the bear slowly tipped over and clattered to the ground like a felled tree.

“Anyone else have a problem with these two getting a drink?” Judy shouted at everyone. They all stared at her for a second, then looked away.

She turned back to the foxes. “Sorry about that. Everything should be fine now.”

They just stared at her. “Thank you,” one of them said. “We’ve never had anybody do that for us before.”

“And I’m sorry about that.” Judy squeezed their hands. “Consider this the start of an apology, from everyone in the city.”

They went to find a booth when Clawhauser made it, wide-eyed and awed. “ _You’re_ the superhero,” he said, pulling her into a bone-crushing hug. “I’ve never seen you in action before. It was _amazing_.” He pulled back, expression turning alarmed. “There’s a cut on your cheek.”

She’d been so angry she hadn’t even noticed. “His claw must have gotten me.” Judy touched her cheek, still thinking about Nick. “You know Nick faces that all the time. He has for _years_.” She shook her head. “And I went right along with it. I was such an _idiot_.”

Slow understanding dawned on Clawhauser’s face. “Oh, _honey_ ,” he said, voice full of sympathy as he helped her back to the table. “You know there’s gonna be more of those if you and Nick get together, right?”

“I don’t care,” she said fiercely, then her eyes widened. “What? That’s— I never said—“

He gave her a “seriously?” look. “Just because I don’t want sex or romance for myself doesn’t mean I don’t know what it looks like.” He patted her paw. “You should probably tell Nick you’re beating up jerks in his honor now.”

“Are you kidding?” She dropped her head down on the table. “He’d call me an idiot.”

Clawhauser took a long, noisy sip of his drink. “Oh, I think you’d be surprised.”

“No more advice.” Judy waved the suggestion away without looking up. “Tell me some more about Gazelle’s heat vision.”


	10. Chapter 10

Frank tried to beat him up, the morning after the itching powder, but when Nick actually had room to evade the elephant had no chance. Frank also mysteriously got food poisoning the next day, an incident that no one could attribute to Nick (mostly because he was smarter than they were), and soon the targeting died down out of fear of the mysterious potential retribution.

This left Nick free to focus on the actual academy tests, sorting out their secrets until he could finish them faster and more effectively than his classmates. He didn't have the vertical leap to use Judy's trick with the ice wall, but he did find that his classmates' backs and shoulders made a much more convenient pathway to scramble up than the slick ice (and on the most annoying ones, he could keep his claws out). The ring fights were harder, but he had managed to confuse the wolf he'd fought into knocking himself out on one of the side poles.

He started calling Judy in the evenings, saving it as a reward for everything he'd done that day. He tried to wait until after she and Clawhauser had done their thing, both because he didn't want to interrupt their friend time (he was _almost_ positive he wasn't jealous) and because Clawhauser sometimes got involved in the conversation. Nick didn't mind talking to him – the cheetah could be sneakily hilarious, in addition to being ridiculously nice – but every second he talked to him meant time he wasn't talking to Judy.

Tonight, though he'd clearly mistimed it, because when Judy answered the phone there was still a bar in the background. "Nick, hold on." There was movement that was probably her sliding out of the booth. "Let me go someplace quieter."

Nick felt guilty. "Don't worry about it. I can just call tomorrow."

" _No_ ," Judy insisted, her expression firm as she slipped out the door. "Now is great. I just didn't feel like I could leave until Rob and Mary did."

Nick's brow furrowed. "I thought you were out with Clawhauser."

"I am. Rob and Mary are a nice couple I met in the bar tonight." She glanced over at something, and after a second she gave a little wave. "Clawhauser just brought them a new round of drinks with umbrellas in them, so we might be here awhile."

Nick smiled a little. "We're going to have to get him and Finnick to go out drinking together at some—" He stopped himself when she turned back, the light from the window catching her cheek just right that he finally noticed the fresh cut. "Anything exciting happen?"

She looked startled as she reached up and touched the mark, like she'd forgotten it was there. A second later, she looked almost ... embarrassed. "Oh, nothing."

He shook his head. "Carrots, we have _got_ to teach you to lie better."

Judy raised an eyebrow. "So should we talk more about how beat-up you looked the first week or so of the academy?"

Nick shrugged, mentally kicking himself. He thought he'd done a better job hiding it from her. "One, I solved the problem. Two, we can talk about it if you want."

She sighed. "No. It'll just make me want to kick them, and I can't because it'll get you in trouble."

"Awww, that's both sweet and violent." He kept his voice light, covering how touched he was. "Now out with your little adventure."

She rolled her eyes. "Seriously, it's nothing. This asshole bear started into this whole 'We can't let shifty foxes into the bar' pretty much the second Rob and Mary walked in." She shrugged. "I took care of it."

Nick's chest felt weirdly tight, all of a sudden. "They're foxes?"

Her expression softened."Yeah," she said quietly. "They got the same look on their face you did when you were telling me about the scouts. I couldn't be there to protect you then, or for any of the times after, but I was here for this."

His chest squeezed even tighter, a lump forming in his throat. "You can't fight everyone, Carrots." He probably shouldn't be surprised – Judy threw herself into things – but this felt different than when she'd gotten the elephant to sell them the popsicle. That had been her fighting for Truth and Justice. This ... this felt different. Even if it was just to him."You're supposed to be protecting the public, not kicking them in the face."

"If they keep treating foxes like dirt, I'll do both." She said it so matter-of-factly, like she was making plans for dinner.

But oh, it wasn't that simple. "It won't stop, Carrots," he managed, voice rough. "You'll get tired at some point."

Her expression was fierce as she leaned closer to the phone. "I've been getting in fights over what I believe in since I was eight years old, Nick, and you're the best thing I've ever had to fight for. I'll take on the whole city for you if I have to."

If his fingers hadn't been locked in a death grip on the phone, Nick had no doubt his paws would be shaking. He was terrified to open his mouth, absolutely certain that if he did he wouldn't be able to stop himself from saying that she meant everything to him. That she had a power over him that not even his mother had ever come close to touching. That, if they were in the same room, nothing in the world would have stopped him from kissing her.

And she probably wouldn't want to hear any of it.

Her expression slid into worry. "Nick? Is everything okay?"

"Sorry. I... I've got to go." He hung up on her before anything else could slip out of his mouth, then squeezed his eyes shut.  


	11. Chapter 11

On the TV screen, Luke Skyhopper was staring in awe at the tiny holographic projection of Leia Eargana. He was so excited his ears were practically vibrating, and on the couch Judy shook her head just like she always did when watching the movie.

"It's not his fault that he didn't know she was his sister," she told the empty room, trying to distract herself. "Yes, they look almost identical, but so does _Han_. Half the reason rabbit families are always looking through photo albums is so the kids don't accidentally date cousins, and that's when we've all grown up together. Poor guy didn't have a shot."

This time, though, she felt a wave of sadness instead of the usual annoyance. She could practically hear the response Nick had made when they'd watched the movie the weekend before, a joke about how there was real money to be made in a genealogy-based rabbit dating site, and they'd ended up back-and-forthing about it for most of the movie. It was the most fun she'd ever had watching it.

And the number one reason why it was a _terrible_ movie to be watching now.

Throat tight, she clicked the TV off with the remote and then flopped sideways on the couch. It had been almost a week since Nick had practically hung up on her, and he hadn't called since. He also hadn't called her back when she'd tried to reach out to him, not even with a time he expected the train to be in.

She was starting to think he wasn't coming home this weekend at all.

When her phone rang, she couldn't stop her heart from leaping. It sank again when she saw Clawhauser's name, but tried to smile as his face filled the screen.

It must not have worked, because the cheetah immediately looked horrified. "Oh, _honey_. I am leaving my cooking class right now and coming straight over there."

" _No_ ," Judy said firmly. "You shouldn't have to babysit me all the time. I'm giving myself one night to be pathetic, and then I'll pull myself together and volunteer somewhere this weekend."

Clawhauser made an exasperated sound. "Or we can drive over to the academy and talk to Nick. This is probably all just a terrible misunderstanding."

Judy shook her head, her chest aching. "No. He either got panicked because he figured out  I have feelings for him, or I did too much and freaked him out." She'd been too much for a lot of mammals, over the years. She'd thought that hadn't been the case with Nick, but she'd been wrong before. "Either way, I need to give him time."

Clawhauser still looked stubborn. "If this was a fic, Nick would be over there pining just as hard as you are for some reason you haven't thought of. If you _talk_ to him, we can skip over all this angsty part and you two can go back to being adorable."

"Clawhauser, this isn't fanfiction." She dropped back against the couch, ears pressing flat against the back of her head. They'd been droopy most of the week, which was why she'd tried to keep them out of view of the screen whenever her parents called. "And even in stories, it doesn't always work out. Luke ended up alone at the end of the trilogy."

Clawhauser hesitated, looking like he wanted to argue some more, then sighed. "Okay, but let me know when you're doing the volunteering. As long as it doesn't involve running, I'll come with you."

This time, her smile was slightly less tragic. "You're a really good friend, Clawhauser."

He smiled back. "World class."


	12. Chapter 12

There wasn't a safe way to say "I'm okay with you never feeling the same way that I do about you, but I'm going to need you to forgive me every time I screw up and say something about how much I adore you."

Nick knew this firsthand, because he'd spent the last several days trying to come up with one. He didn't kid himself that he had a chance for anything more than that - Judy threw herself into everything, and it just made sense that she'd do friendship with the same intensity she did everything else - but he'd nearly slipped up once already. He needed to give her a way out in advance, so she didn't trip over her own feet trying to be polite when he got his feelings all over her.

She'd already given him so much. He'd be a greedy bastard to ask for more.

Nick's coursework was almost a relief, giving him something to focus on that he wasn't massively screwing up. He'd avoided enough of Judy's calls that she was probably ticked off at him, and analyzing old case files was far easier than thinking about the hole he was digging.

The fights, unfortunately, weren't quite such an escape. The added stress meant that it was harder to keep his temper under control, his ability to detach himself worn thin by the constant worry. Add an elephant who decided he was bored enough to make another try for Nick, and it was inevitable something would burst.

In this case, it was the side of the boxing ring.

"Nick!" the drill sergeant shouted, leaving Frank still tangled in the side ropes as she stalked over to Nick. "I told you no zooicide!"

"He's the one that tried the body slam," Nick snapped.

"And you're the one who mysteriously lost your gloves in the middle of the fight," she shot back, gesturing to his clawed fingers. When he didn't respond, she rubbed her forehead with one paw. "It's Saturday tomorrow. Go home and fix whatever's been wrong with you this week, and I'll forget this little adventure ever happened."

There was no way to argue how impossible that was, particularly when Finnick called less than an hour later. "Get your furry tail back here and fix your bunny," the fennec fox snapped. "Now."

Nick was surprised enough to be briefly distracted from his misery. "Since when do you talk to Judy?

Finnick made a sound that usually translated to "don't be an idiot." "I don't, but after she got you so good I decided to keep track of her so I can always conduct my business someplace where she isn't. And what I am seeing is _depressing_ me, Nick."

Nick swallowed. Making her sad was a thousand times worse than making her angry. "I haven't figured out what to say yet. And if I say the wrong thing, it'll just make it worse."

Finnick sighed. "Remember when the two of you had that fight after the press conference? You were so messed up about it it hurt to look at you."

Nick didn't like where this was going. "Yeah?"

"She looks like that. Which means you must look just as bad, and I'm left feeling all emotional again for no damn reason." Finnick's voice was as gentle as he'd ever heard it. "So fix it."

Then he hung up, leaving Nick staring at the phone. After a few minutes he swiped over to his contact list, finger hovering over Judy's number, then he shook his head and closed out of it completely.

No. However badly he screwed it up, he needed to do this in person.


	13. Chapter 13

Saturday, the world felt slightly more manageable.

Part of this, Judy admitted to herself, was because the charity run she'd just finished wasn't any more Nick's kind of thing than it was Clawhauser's (he'd been willing to try, bless him, but she'd talked him out of it). But the run raised money to help pay for the lingering hospital bills and related expenses for some of the predators affected by the Night Howlers, and even though she'd been a camera target for the reporters who were there it had felt good to help.

As she headed back to their— Nick's apartment, she told herself that she'd make one more call to Nick. Just say she wanted to talk, whenever he was ready, then force herself to be patient until he was. It wasn't like he could avoid her forever, after all, since she was living in his apartment....

....which he was sitting in front of.

Judy froze, keys dangling from suddenly nerveless fingers as Nick gave her an embarrassed little wave. He pushed himself to his feet, wincing a little at her shell-shocked expression. "Sorry." He gestured toward the door. "I gave you my key."

That kicked her into movement. "Oh, I'm sorry." She hurried to unlock the door, pushing it open and stepping aside to let him. "But the charity race started at 7 a.m., and since I was last-minute I had to sign up at the event." Worry coiled in her stomach, making her heartbeat kick up. Had he wanted to be here when she wasn't? "If you'd told me you were coming, I would have met you at the station." 

"I know." Nick looked away, rubbing a paw along the back of his neck. Then he took a deep breath and met her eyes. "I came to apologize, actually."

Judy made herself breathe, suddenly afraid that she didn't want to have this conversation. "It's okay."

He shook his head fiercely. "Don't give me that out."

"Why not?" She took a step towards him. "You gave me one, and I did a lot worse."

He looked startled at that. "That's...." He let out a breath. "Not the same thing. If we don't deal with this now, it'll just keep coming up."

Judy swallowed. "Nick...."

"No." He held up his paws. "Me first. I've been driving myself crazy figuring out how to say this, but I finally realized I just need to get it over with."

Judy nodded, squaring her shoulders. Plenty of people had survived the "best friends," talk, right? She could do this. "Okay. You go first."

He looked nervous suddenly, then it disappeared like he was bracing himself. "When I hung up on you, I ... I panicked. There was suddenly all these feelings, and I wasn't ready...." She couldn't stop herself from flinching at that – she'd _known_ she should have just stopped talking – and when he saw it his paws half lifted in an attempt to reassure. "No, no, it's okay. I know you don't feel the same way about me, and I'm okay with that. Our friendship is... it's wonderful. It's all I need."

The words felt weirdly familiar, but it took a second to realize that what Nick was saying sounded suspiciously similar to the pep talk she'd been trying to give herself for—

When realization clicked, Judy's heart stopped. Then it started racing.

She had no idea how Nick translated the look on her face, the words moving fast enough now that he was barely pausing for breath. "That's not the problem. The problem is that I am _completely_ out of practice with this whole surging emotions thing, and there's an unfortunately large chance that at some point I'm going to slip up and say something stupid. I just ... I need you to decide now that you're going forgive me, whatever it is."

"Something stupid?" she asked faintly, happiness so huge and hot in her chest that she could barely breathe. He looked _miserable_. They'd both been such _idiots_. "Like 'I really want to kiss you right now'?"

Nick flinched at that. "Yeah." His eyes flicked away from hers, so he was no longer quite meeting her gaze. "I'll figure out how to get it under control, I promise. But I might—"

"Nick." His name was a breath, but it was enough to silence him completely. After a few seconds, he reluctantly met her eyes.

When he did, she gave him a brilliant smile. "I really want to kiss you right now."


	14. Chapter 14

Nick's brain seized up.

It wasn't that he didn't understand what Judy had just said. The words were emblazoned in his brain in 50-foot-tall letters of fire, seared in so deep they'd be there forever. Decades from now, he had no doubt he'd be able to remember the exact inflection of Judy's voice when she'd said she wanted to kiss him. There was no way to misinterpret it.

But this... this wasn't supposed to be possible. Nick hadn't even _fantasized_ that Judy could feel the same way about him, because by this point even his imagination was too sensible to hope for something this far outside the realm of believability. It was so impossible he'd assume it was a trick from anyone else, a twist on his childhood trauma that came across as a particularly horrible joke from the universe.

With Judy, however, that wasn't an option. She might break his heart, but she'd never be cruel about it. And her face... she meant every word she'd just said. He _knew_ that.

But his brain refused to accept it was happening.

It also didn't have the mental capacity to communicate any of this, and as the silence dragged on Judy's expression started to grow hesitant. "You know I'm not good with words." She lifted her paws helplessly. "Which I probably made even more obvious when I got so emotional about fighting everyone for you. I promise I'll try to get better at—"

She didn't get the chance to finish what she was saying, because the fact that it was complete nonsense was more than enough to break through Nick's cognitive dissonance. Realizing that the only appropriate response had gone beyond words at this point, he crossed the distance between them, swept her up in his arms, and kissed her.

Either the room was spinning or they were, but it didn't really matter. It could have all been in Nick's head, because the moment Judy realized what was happening she flung her arms and legs around him like they were hanging off a bridge and he was the only thing keeping her from falling. There was a voice in the back of his head screaming _Teeth! Be careful of your teeth!_ but Judy was clearly not getting the same warning. She kissed the same way she did everything else, full speed ahead, and he could actually feel the neurons in his brain being blown out one by one.

If it meant he could keep doing this, he wouldn't miss one of them.

He could feel it when he got careless and nipped her, but when he tried to pull back she wouldn't let him. "Just means we need to practice more," she murmured before diving back in, and even the most cynical, paranoid parts of Nick's brain threw its metaphorical paws in the air and let itself fall.

When they did finally break apart, they stared at each other with shining eyes. "You were perfect," Nick managed, his brain finally remembering how to form words. "What you said, about fighting the world for me." He was pretty sure he was shaking. "I just didn't dare let myself believe you meant it like I wanted you to."

She tightened her arms around him, pressing her cheek against his neck. "I meant it every way you could possibly mean it," she said fiercely.

"Good." Nick swallowed, heart still slamming against the inside of his chest. "Me too, Carrots. Every way." Happiness was a hot, bright thing in his chest, leaving him lightheaded, and he wasn't entirely sure his legs weren't about to give way. Since he wasn't ready to let go yet, he moved until his back hit the door and slid them both safely down until he was in a sitting position. "Sorry. I don't want to let you go yet, but it'll ruin the moment if I dropped you."

Judy pulled back enough just to look at his face, her own eyes big with astonishment at whatever she saw on his. Then her expression melted, and she smoothed her paws over the sides of his face tenderly enough to make his throat tighten. "You could never ruin the moment," she whispered, pressing a kiss against his cheek before burrowing back into his arms.

He pressed a kiss against her fur, then let himself just breathe her in. "Your faith in me is only mildly terrifying."


	15. Chapter 15

They eventually made it to the couch, but neither of them were interested in moving much further than that. They ordered a half-and-half pizza from Bearinos, watched movies ("I found your secret stash of romantic comedies, Nick." "What? I'm holding those for Finnick." "Want me to call and tell him you said that?" "He'll kill me, but that doesn't mean it isn't true."), and called Clawhauser to let him know that she definitely wouldn't be able to make lunch (he was thrilled that they'd gotten their act together, and insisted that the three of them all go out for dinner together the following weekend.)

And somewhere in the middle of all that, they talked about what they were going to do next.

"We'll be okay at work," Judy offered at one point, head resting on Nick's chest as they both stretched out on the couch. His heart beating underneath her cheek was more interesting than the screen in front of them, where a ewe was desperately searching through a crowd of her fellow sheep for her One True Love. "There's no rule against police officers dating each other, and Clawhauser said that Bogo generally leaves it as a general unspoken warning along the lines of 'if you let your personal issues mess a case up, you'll answer to me.'"

"Technically, it's not my work yet," Nick said lightly, voice warm as he traced patterns along her back. "You're that sure I'll make it through the rest of the academy and get hired?"

Judy could hear the fragility beneath the joke now. "I'd accuse you of fishing for compliments, but after this morning I know just how bad your self esteem really is." She pushed herself up just enough to look down at him, giving him a gentle kiss. "But for the record, I am absolutely _certain_ that you'll be the one of the two best detectives the ZPD has ever seen."

Nick grinned. "I appreciate that you didn't say 'second best.'" He pulled her down for another, longer kiss, but when they broke apart again his expression sobered. "So legally we'll be fine, but there's no way of telling how your—"

" _Our_ ," she corrected, giving him a stern expression.

His expression softened briefly. "Okay, how _our_ fellow cops will take it. We know Clawhauser's all in, but I don't want your backup to ever be a little too slow because they're pissed off that you're dating a shiftless fox."

Judy wanted to deny even the possibility, but after the last few months she couldn't. "They haven't given me trouble about you yet, and even before you were smart enough to kiss me I talked about you enough they'd have had the chance." She sighed. She genuinely didn't think it would be a problem – once you got to know Nick, it was nearly impossible not to like him – but if the worst happened she already knew which side she'd be on. "But even if it does happen, I'll be fine. I'll have you with me."

"It shouldn't be an either-or, Carrots." He reached up to touch her face, everything about him absolutely serious. "I know you'd fight the whole world for me, but if we're smart about this maybe I can save you from a fight or two."

She tensed, hearing what he wasn't saying. "I won't hide you, Nick." She felt the denial with everything in her. "I won't hide that I'm with you."

"Not _hide_ , just... be careful." He smoothed his paw against her cheek, touch utterly gentle. "Keep it low key unless we're with animals we know and trust."

Her throat went tight. "I'm not ashamed of you, Nick. I'm so, _so_ proud of you. I don't want anyone to think I'm ashamed of you."

Nick pulled her down for another kiss. "We're protecting ourselves," he murmured, voice rough with emotion. "Protecting this thing between us. All this does is give it some time to grow strong and steady before reality comes in and starts trying to kick the shit out of it."

Eyes stinging, she laid her head back down against his chest. "I hate how much sense that makes," she whispered.

"I know." He tightened his arms around her. "If it helps, you'll probably still get the chance to beat some animals up for me."

She pressed a kiss against his shirt. "Don't think I won't hold you to that."


	16. Chapter 16

The weekend ended, as weekends inevitably do, and it was back to reality. Only this time, it was a new, shinier reality where the rabbit he was crazy about just happened to be crazy about him as well.

The new reality reflected in Nick's performance at the academy. He'd been doing well before, but now he had even more incentive to excel at every opportunity – Bogo had implied he'd assign Nick to Zootopia HQ, but top scores would definitely help sweeten the deal.

When he vaulted over the ice wall with the fastest time in the entire class, the drill sergeant just gave him an amused look. "I see you fixed the problem."

"That I did." He gave her a lazy salute. "Judy says hi, by the way."

The corner's of the sergeant's mouth twitched upward. "Tell her I said hi back."

The late-night calls with Judy were, surprisingly, not that much different than they had been before. They still told each other about their days, still teased each other and helped each other with their plans. It was just that now sometimes one of them would say something soft and affectionate that would make the other melt like a pawpsicle on a hot day. It was fantastic.

It was his only excuse for the fact that, when he received a call a little earlier than their usual time one night, he answered without looking at the number. "So, Carrots is still my favorite, but Snugglebunny is running a close—"

The rest of the sentence choked into silence when he realized that, instead of his bunny on the screen, there were two older bunnies giving him a look that was somehow both awkward and evaluating. It took him a second to realize he'd seen them before, on the screen of Judy's phone, and panic clutched at his chest. "Um." He cleared his throat. "Feel free to pretend you didn't hear any of that."

Stu sighed. "I've got 87 married sons and daughters, son. I've heard worse."

Bonnie patted his shoulder sympathetically, giving Nick a bright smile that set off all kinds of danger warnings in Nick's head. "Do you have a few minutes? Judy said your days are always so busy, so we thought we'd try you in the evening."

Nick wanted, very badly, to make up something he absolutely had to do right this second. But if he was going to make a life with Judy, that life was going to include Judy's parents. "Now's fine." He paused. "Judy will be calling in about 10 minutes, though."

"It'll probably be earlier once she realizes what we're doing." Bonnie looked almost amused. "We just got off the phone with her, and she told us the two of you are officially dating."

"I still can't believe you didn't tell me you knew," Stu muttered. "You could have warned me."

"Stu, if you haven't been listening to the way our daughter talks about this fox, there's nothing I could have done to help you," she muttered back, then refocused on Nick. "Since we haven't officially met yet, we were just hoping for a quick chat."

Suddenly, Nick realized why Bonnie's smile was setting off alarm bells. It reminded him a lot of the one Judy was wearing during that first shakedown. "Should I get a lawyer?"

Stu made an exasperated noise. "If you really want to get one involved while we're talking about grandchildren."

Nick choked again. "Grandchildren?"

"No rabbit I know doesn't have at least a hundred kids running around the burrow." Stu leaned closer. "I know you two'd have to adopt, but rabbits tend to get fostered out in pretty big groups, so you could get a household set up without too much trouble."

There was no safe way to answer this. "We'd... Judy and I haven't even talked about that yet."

To his surprise, Stu just nodded. "Good answer."

"Now, what about visits?" Apparently, Bonnie was up to bat next. "Judy mentioned you don't have any family left of your own, so we wanted to make sure you knew that, not only are you always welcome to come with Judy, but you should also feel free to bring her out for a visit she didn't plan."

"Drag her if you have to," Stu cut in. "We'll bribe you with baked goods."

"I'll... keep that in mind?" That seemed safe enough, right? "By the way, do you do this for all your kids' significant others?"

Bonnie shook her head. "Oh, no, just the special ones. Now, about the...."


	17. Chapter 17

Crime, unfortunately, has no respect for timing.

A thief had stolen high-end watches from a downtown store, and the case was dropped in Judy's lap late Friday morning. There was no evidence at the scene, and it usually took a couple of days for any of the stolen items to pop up on the black market, but that evening a second store was robbed. The local business community panicked, and to put them at ease Judy was left to scare up some leads through the weekend.

"That doesn't mean you shouldn't still come home if you want, but I'm pretty much stuck at work," Judy told Nick in their phone call that night. She'd snuck into a utility closet to get some privacy, the case file open in her lap as she sat on the floor. "Weaselton and the other fence—"

"Purveyor of unusual items," Nick corrected.

She smiled a little at the familiar joke. "Okay, neither our least-favorite weasel or the other 'purveyor' have heard anything. And before you ask, I actually believe them – they're _really_ not thrilled with the sudden spotlight this has put on them, so they want this shut down as much as we do."

"Of course they do. And over watches? Who even wears watches anymore?" She heard him settle back against his academy bunk bed. "Actually, that's something to keep in mind. There's a chance your robber isn't planning on hitting the open market at all – there's not much of a demand for watches these days, even the nice ones."

"Hmmm." Judy tapped her fingers against the file, thinking. "Normally that would mean a private buyer, but so far we've had 18 watches stolen in total. Who has the need for 18 watches if they're not going to be able to re-sell them?"

"A family of lemmings in need of some new hats?"

"Ha ha. I'll get right that." Still, the corners of her mouth snuck back upward. "Or not."

"Hey, not my fault if you don't recognize a genius suggestion when you hear it." The humor in Nick's voice suggested that a smile was exactly what he'd been trying for. "On a more serious note, though, what about the insurance angle? If I were setting up an insurance scam – which I never would—"

"Of course not." Judy's smile widened as she scooped up the file and opened the closet door, heading back to her cubicle. "You'd do an insurance _hustle_."

That surprised a laugh out of him. "No comment." He paused a moment, thinking. "If it is an insurance scam, however, the watches actually make _more_ sense. It's still valuable product, but less likely to actually sell."

"It's a good idea," Judy sat down her computer, pulling up the business records for both stores. "Both stores have different owners who are insured by different companies, but they're only a few blocks apart so it's possible they know each other. There's no evidence to support it yet, but unless one of the watches pop up somewhere it's a good place to start. I'll get in touch with their insurance companies in the morning, get the details of their plans."

"You might also want to check out a squirrel named Felix Tassels. He wouldn't take the job, but if you can get a hold of him he'll probably have information on the idiots who would." There was another pause, but there was more weight to it this time. "I could probably dig him up, if you wouldn't be opposed to the company."

Excitement bubbled up in her chest. She loved her job, but chasing down leads was somehow more fun when she could do it with him. "I hope you're smart enough to know how I'm going to answer that question."

"I'm getting there." Nick sounded almost as excited as she was. "Sure I won't be stepping on anyone's toes?"

"Nope, I'm on my own except for cheerleading from Clawhauser." Bogo still hadn't assigned her a partner yet, and Judy crossed her fingers that it meant Bogo was saving the spot for Nick. "Besides, you know you're my only partner."

She could hear the smile in his voice. "Then see you tomorrow, partner."


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow... we've finally come to the end of this little adventure. There were so many things I didn't expect about this fic when I started it, including the amazing support I received from everyone. Thank you so much for all of your kind words and thoughts - you really helped keep me going.

Nick stood in front of the mirror in the academy's empty dorm, trying to get used to the sight of himself in his new uniform. Normally he would have gotten some ribbing for hogging the mirror, but his fellow classmates were outside greeting their families. A year ago, the thought might have made him sad – ever since his mom died, the sight of happy families had always made his chest ache – but not today.

He had his own family now. And she knew exactly where to find him.

As if she'd heard him thinking about her, Judy suddenly burst in. "You didn't tell me you were valedictorian!"  she called, tossing something on his bed before bounding into his arms.

He caught her in the hug, swinging her around as he buried his nose in her fur. "I wanted it to be a surprise."

Judy gave him a quick kiss before he set her down on her feet. "It's not a surprise, though." She grinned up at him. "I already knew how amazing you are. It's just sensible of them to have figured it out for themselves."

Nick's chest constricted. "Well, I had to keep up with you, didn't I?"

"The fun part now will be watching everyone else try to keep up with _us_." She handed him the package she'd dropped on his bed. "Someone left this in front of our door this morning."

He examined the package, finally finding the "For the Fuzz" scrawled across it in marker. "Is it wrong that I'm oddly touched Finnick got me a present?"

She patted his arm. "No, but I thought you should probably open it in here where my parents couldn't see it."

Nick blinked, certain he hadn't heard her right. "Your parents are here?"

"They're getting seats." She hesitated. "They somehow managed to get babysitters for _all_ my siblings, which means they're definitely going to want to take us out to dinner. They'll try their hardest, but I'm warning you now that there _will_ be awkwardness when we're picking the restaurant. They've been trying to Zoogle omnivore restaurants, but they have no idea what to look for."

Nick's brain was still having trouble trying to process the information. The interrogation call had seemed to end on a positive note, but it wasn't like they'd chatted a lot since then. "But... why are they _here_?"

Judy gave him a look that suggested he was being slow. "Because you're family now, you dope." She nudged the package he had forgotten he was holding. "Now open it. I'm dying of curiosity."

It turned out to be a t-shirt – Finnick knew a guy – that said "Cop on the streets, criminal in the sheets." Judy burst out laughing. "Oh, it's _perfect_. And so _true_."

Embarrassed and complimented all at once, Nick felt his cheeks heat as he shoved the shirt back in the box. "Remind me to never, ever wear that any time your parents might see that."

"I think you keep underestimating how jaded my parents are. My mom was actually there for the birth of like 40 of my nieces and nephews." Judy reached up, making small adjustments to his tie and smoothing a paw down the front of his uniform. "They are fully aware that their children have sex."

"Maybe," he muttered. "But I'm still not used to parents who know I'm having sex with their daughter."

"It'll happen eventually." She took a step back, grinning at him. "You know, you look _really_ good in that uniform."

He grinned back at her. "Funny, I always think the same thing about your uniform."

"I'll keep that in mind." Suddenly, her expression went soft. "I really love you, you know."

The words rolled through Nick in a wave, dismantling him from the inside out in the best possible way. The last person who'd said those words to him had been his mother, and until Judy he'd never imagined he'd hear them again. Or, for that matter, say them.

"That's good." His voice was rough, eyes stinging. "Because I love you, too."

Judy smiled at him, suddenly blinking hard. "Well, that works out just perfectly then." She reached for him, then hesitated. "I really need to kiss you right now, but if I do you'll have to fix your uniform again."

He bent down for his kiss. "Totally worth it." 

**Author's Note:**

> Come check out my new original fiction on my [blog](http://jennifferwardell.blogspot.com) or say hi to me on [Tumblr](http://sanctuaryforalluniverses.tumblr.com)


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